How can I ensure email compliance with Yahoo/Google rules including DMARC, SPF, and FcrDNS?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from StackExchange shares that it is important to setup DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) because it allows an organization to take responsibility for transmitting a message, in a way that is verifiable by mail providers. This helps prevent email spoofing.
Email marketer from GlockApps shares that using email testing tools can help you assess your email authentication setup and identify potential issues before sending campaigns. They state that this includes checking SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, as well as assessing your sender reputation.
Email marketer from Postmark shares that, beyond technical configurations, maintaining a good sender reputation is vital for compliance. This involves practicing good email list hygiene, sending relevant content, and avoiding spam triggers.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that keeping your SPF record up-to-date with all authorized sending sources is important. This user also explains that failing to do so can lead to deliverability issues. They suggest regularly reviewing and updating your SPF record to ensure all legitimate senders are included.
Email marketer from EmailOctopus explains that SPF records have a character limit, so it's important to keep them concise. To keep it concise, they suggest using includes for different services and avoiding unnecessary entries. They mention exceeding the lookup limit can cause deliverability problems.
Email marketer from EasyDMARC explains that email compliance involves configuring subdomains separately from main domains, allowing for more specific control over email authentication policies, reducing risk, and improving overall security and reputation.
Email marketer from SparkPost explains that monitoring DMARC reports is essential for identifying potential authentication issues and unauthorized use of your domain. Analyzing these reports allows you to adjust your email authentication settings and prevent spoofing attempts.
Marketer from Email Geeks states after setting up DMARC reports, you'll need to check them to make sure your sources do not fall out of alignment or that you don't have any other sources to align.
Marketer from Email Geeks mentions that there are unneeded SPF includes in the 'from' domain and explains that SPF is checked against the return path, not the friendly 'from'. They clarify that including it in the friendly from wastes valuable lookups.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that using a combination of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for ensuring email deliverability and compliance with mailbox provider guidelines. This involves setting up these authentication methods correctly and regularly monitoring DMARC reports.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that the domain has no DMARC policy and suggests implementing one, even with a free reporting tool.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains the need to publish a DMARC record for the domain in the 'from' field.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that using an adequate DKIM key length (at least 1024 bits, but ideally 2048 bits) is crucial for ensuring the security and effectiveness of your DKIM signature. Shorter key lengths are more vulnerable to attacks and may not be trusted by mailbox providers.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that FcrDNS is missing, recommends publishing an A record for the IP address (50.31.42.60), and clarifies that the IP should point to a hostname that points back to the IP.
Expert from SpamResource states that, PTR Records, also known as reverse DNS records, can significantly improve email delivery by ensuring that a sending mail server's IP address resolves back to its hostname. This helps build trust and confirms the legitimacy of the mail server.
Expert from SpamResource emphasizes the importance of validating your SPF records with tools to ensure they are correctly configured and syntactically correct. Misconfigured records can lead to deliverability issues.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains the importance of properly configuring DMARC aggregate reports in XML format for email streams and third-party senders. They state that these reports are essential for identifying authentication failures, potential spoofing activity, and understanding the overall health of your email authentication setup.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that implementing DMARC allows you to protect your domain from email spoofing and phishing, instructing recipient mail servers to handle messages from your domain that fail authentication checks. It also provides reporting to help identify and address potential issues.
Documentation from SendGrid Docs explains that reverse DNS (rDNS) confirms the IP address associated with your sending server or domain is legitimate. This involves setting up a PTR record to map the IP address back to a hostname, enhancing your sender reputation.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC allows you to specify how recipient mail servers should handle emails that fail authentication. It has policy options, like 'none,' 'quarantine,' and 'reject,' giving you control over how aggressively to enforce authentication.
Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email-authentication method that helps prevent spammers from sending messages on behalf of your domain. SPF validates the origin of email messages by verifying the IP address of the sender against a list of authorized sending sources published in your DNS records.
Documentation from RFC explains that the SPF specification limits the number of DNS lookups that can be performed during SPF evaluation. This ensures that SPF checks do not consume excessive resources.